Broward Approves Convention Center It Will Be Part Of $250 Million Complex

January 4, 1989|By CHUCK CLARK, Staff Writer

A $49 million convention center at Port Everglades was approved by the Broward County Commission on Tuesday.

It is part of a $250 million complex of lavish hotels, office buildings and shopping plazas that officials hope will lure visitors from around the globe.

``We have achieved something ... that is unique,`` said Ed Deutsch, president of Northport Venture Associates, the private developer building the convention center for the county.

``There is nothing on the North American continent that will equal the facility at Northport center,`` he said. ``It will be truly amazing.``

The commission`s action -- agreeing to pay a maximum of $48,923,407 for the 370,000-square-foot convention center, $2.1 million higher than originally anticipated -- clears the last major hurdle before Northport begins construction.

``What we are doing is buying the ideal place to have a convention in the world,`` said Commission Chairman Nicki Grossman, who also heads the county`s Tourist Development Council.

Northport still awaits approval from the Port Everglades Authority of plans for a $14.4 million parking garage with enough space for 2,500 vehicles. Port officials have informally expressed their approval, Deutsch said.

Officials will have a ground-breaking ceremony on Feb. 14 for the county complex, tentatively called The Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center at Northport.

The complex is along the Southeast 17th Street Causeway, between Eisenhower Boulevard and the Intracoastal Waterway, at the northern edge of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale.

Dean Hofmeister, executive director of the convention center, said the lavish structure, combined with other amenities at Northport -- including a rebuilt terminal for cruise ships -- will lure South Floridians as well as tourists.

``As it is designed at its location, this center is going to bring into play so many of the great features of Fort Lauderdale,`` Hofmeister said. ``It will have a tropical resort appeal -- a place a lot of people, not just conventioneers, will want to go.``

The convention center is financed through bonds and the county`s 3 percent bed tax on hotel and motel rooms.

Major construction will begin this summer, and the center will open by September 1991.

The convention center`s glass, concrete and stucco facade will tower as high as 90 feet.

The Northport complex also will include a 30-story, 625-room convention hotel; a smaller luxury hotel; 250,000 square feet of retail space; 360,000 square feet of office space; and an additional 3,900 parking spaces.

The entire project will be centered on a courtyard.

COUNTY ACTION

Also on Tuesday, the Broward County Commission:

--Called a countywide referendum for March 14 to ask voters for money to buy environmentally sensitive lands. Opening the polls for the election will cost taxpayers an estimated $325,000.

--Earmarked $25,000 to pursue state and federal grants for a study of a people mover system to shuttle cruise ship passengers from Fort Lauderdale- Hollywood International Airport to Port Everglades. The port also has allocated $25,000.

--Approved nearly $23.7 million in tax-exempt industrial revenue bonds for low-cost loans to help businesses open or expand.

--Approved a development plan for a school on nearly 15 acres of land at Coral Springs Drive and Westview Drive, Coral Springs.